Absolute majority

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An absolute majority refers to a share of something that is greater than all the other shares put together (ie greater than half of the total).

In the context of an election, a candidate who receives more votes than all other candidates put together is said to have won an absolute majority. In elections with only two candidates, or only two significant candidates (such as many US Presidential Elections) it is common for a candidate to achieve an absolute majority. An election with more than two significant candidates will often see no candidate receive an absolute majority. However, except in the case of a tie, every election will see one candidate receive a plurality of the vote.